- No exact calendar year: Mirror's Edge Catalyst never states a specific year for the city of Glass.
- Near-future setting: The game takes place in an unspecified near-future corporate dystopia.
- Anchor event: The November Riots roughly 17 years before the story shape Faith's backstory.
- Reboot, not sequel: Catalyst is a reimagined origin story, replacing the 2008 game's timeline.
- World details: The Conglomerate, KrugerSec, and the Reflection project define the era's technology level.
What Year Is Mirror's Edge Catalyst Set In?
The short answer: DICE never gives an explicit calendar year for the events of Mirror's Edge Catalyst. The game is set in a near-future — an era of gleaming corporate architecture, total electronic surveillance, and city-state governance by a consortium called the Conglomerate. Rather than a dated year, the setting is defined by its social and technological stage, similar to how many dystopian stories anchor themselves to a mood rather than a date.
The most concrete temporal anchor in the story is the November Riots, the civil uprising in which Faith Connors lost her parents. Faith was a young child when the riots happened, and the main campaign begins shortly after her release from juvenile detention as a young adult — placing the riots roughly 17 years before the events of the game. This relative timeline, not an absolute date, is how Catalyst frames its history.
The unspecified date is intentional. By avoiding a fixed year, the developers keep the focus on the setting's timelessness — a surveillance state that could be tomorrow or decades away. For lore purposes, treat the game as happening in an undated near future shaped by the Conglomerate's rise.
The City of Glass and Its Era
The city of Glass is a corporate utopia built on total control. Its white facades, mirrored towers, and spotless plazas project order, while the Grid — the city's surveillance and information network — monitors nearly every citizen. The technology level tells you the era even without a date:
| Technology | What It Shows About the Era |
|---|---|
| The Grid | City-wide networked surveillance and data control |
| Reflection project | Experimental corporate tech tied to the Kruger family plot |
| Mag Rope | Miniaturized grappling gear used by Runners |
| KrugerSec drones and helicopters | Advanced automated security enforcement |
| Conglomerate city-states | Nations replaced by corporate governance |
This places Glass firmly in a post-national corporate future, one where comfort has replaced freedom and the Runners' rooftop courier network is the last uncensored channel of communication.
Before the Game
- The Conglomerate consolidates power
- November Riots erupt; Faith's parents die
- Faith enters juvenile detention
The Present
- Faith rejoins the Runners under Noah
- KrugerSec tightens its grip on Glass
- The Reflection project drives the plot
The Runners
- Uncensored couriers on the rooftops
- Use Runner Vision and Mag Ropes
- Operate outside the Grid's reach
Each district of Glass — Anchor, Downtown, View Gardens, and the Undermine — reflects a different layer of the era, from gleaming corporate frontage to the underground where resistance movements like Black November survive. Explore them in free roam to read the city's history in its architecture.
Timeline vs. the 2008 Original
Catalyst is a reboot, not a continuation. The 2008 Mirror's Edge and Catalyst share Faith Connors, parkour-first gameplay, and a city ruled by an authoritarian power, but the stories are separate continuities with different supporting casts and world rules.
| Element | Mirror's Edge (2008) | Catalyst (2016) |
|---|---|---|
| Continuity | Original story | Reboot / origin story |
| Faith's arc | Established Runner | Young Runner rejoining the crew |
| City | Unnamed city | City of Glass |
| Openness | Linear levels | Open-world free roam |
| Combat | Disarm-focused, optional | Momentum-based, no guns |
| Key antagonist | Mayor Callaghan's regime | Gabriel Kruger and KrugerSec |
Because Catalyst retells Faith's beginnings, don't try to slot it "before" or "after" the 2008 game on one timeline. DICE rebuilt the fiction from the ground up, so the November Riots and the Conglomerate belong to Catalyst's continuity only.
How to Piece Together the Setting Yourself
Read the Story Log
Collect hidden Documents during missions and free roam. They fill in Glass's history, KrugerSec operations, and background on the November Riots.
Listen to Dialogue Cues
Mentions of the riots, Faith's detention, and the Reflection project all reference relative time — years elapsed, not calendar dates.
Explore the Undermine
The underground district hosts Black November, the resistance born from the riots. Its environment tells you how far the city has fallen since the uprising.
Track the Kruger Family History
Gabriel and Isabel Kruger's storyline ties the corporate era's origins to Faith's personal past, revealing how the Conglomerate's rule took hold.
Setting Exploration Goals:
- Collect Documents for the story log
- Complete the main story to learn Faith's history
- Explore the Undermine and meet Black November
- Unlock district map upgrades to find hidden lore spots
- Finish the finale atop the Shard for the full backstory
Chipsets and Documents are often placed at hard-to-reach parkour spots. Upgrading Runner Vision and the Mag Rope first makes lore hunting across all districts much faster.
FAQ
Q: What year is Mirror's Edge Catalyst set in?
The game never specifies a calendar year. It takes place in an undated near-future corporate dystopia, anchored in time by the November Riots, which occurred roughly 17 years before Faith's story begins.
Q: Is Mirror's Edge Catalyst a sequel or a reboot?
It is a reboot. Catalyst reimagines Faith Connors' origin story in the city of Glass with a new supporting cast, replacing the continuity of the 2008 Mirror's Edge rather than continuing it.
Q: What are the November Riots?
A civil uprising in Glass's past during which Faith Connors lost her parents. The riots occurred when Faith was a young child and remain the defining historical event of the game's setting.
Q: Where can I learn more about the setting of Glass?
Collect the hidden Documents scattered across districts, explore the Undermine to meet Black November, and follow the main story's Reflection project plotline. Official background is also available on EA's Mirror's Edge Catalyst page.